


Sirius Thinks

by ScotlandEvander



Series: Over the Rainbow [7]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Gen, Gifts, Introspection, Male-Female Friendship, Sirius Notices Things
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-27
Updated: 2013-06-27
Packaged: 2017-12-16 08:50:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,479
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/860254
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ScotlandEvander/pseuds/ScotlandEvander
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After twenty minutes, Sirius burst out of the stacks to put an end to the studying. Flopping down next to Remus he put on his most dashing smile and plunked his head on Remus’ shoulder.</p>
<p>“Whacha doing?” he asked, looking up at Remus under his lashes. </p>
<p>“Runes.”</p>
<p>“Trying to cram my brain into a tiny tube,” Atlanta offered, sounding rather frustrated.</p>
<p>Regulus didn’t say anything.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sirius Thinks

**Disclaimer: If you know it, I do not own it.**

* * *

The two week of classes dragged by. The first prank had gone off without a hitch— well, other than all four of them wound up in detention. After six years, when the armor began whacking and tripping Slytherins, it was obvious who was behind it. 

The second prank hadn’t gone so well. For some unknown reason the plan to dye everyone in the school’s skin the color of their house hadn’t worked out. Somehow, only the Marauders had wound up colored. James was green, Peter was yellow, Sirius was an absurd shade of pink and Remus was bright blue. It took three days to figure out the counter spell to the four back to normal, as the one they’d planned to use failed to work. Sirius had no idea what went wrong, but he had an inkling Atlanta Black had something to do with it. The smirk on her face didn’t fade for three days.

Sirius stared across the Great Hall at Atlanta Black. She hadn’t eaten breakfast at the Gryffindor table since the first day of school. She ate breakfast at the Ravenclaw table with the blonde hair weirdo named Xeno Lovegood and a Muggleborn whose name Sirius couldn’t remember. Sirius heard some of the crazy, crack pot things the three laughed over before he gave up going down early to breakfast. Half the things had to do with made up monsters and time travel. 

She ate dinner with Regulus ever since that night three days after her arrival. And when he saw his brother recently, Atlanta was almost always with him. 

She ate lunch at the Gryffindor table, as Remus and Evans seemed to know an awful lot about her. Sirius always just missed her. Evans, Remus and Atlanta had Arithmancy together, so they left before Sirius got out of his last class before lunch. 

He should have taken Runes and Arithmancy. 

“Why are you broody, mate?” James asked, plopping down across from Sirius.

“The new girl. She’s sitting with my brother. Again,” Sirius said. “She’s not safe.”

James shrugged. “Well, of course not. She’s surrounded by snakes, but it’s her own choice to sit there. Maybe she’s Dark. She does get along with Snivels a bit too well.”

Sirius grunted. Atlanta sat with Snape during Potions. And they got along, even though it was becoming clearer and clearer she was not a drab hand at potions. For unknown reasons, Snape suffered her mishaps. Slughorn was also baffled by her lack of skill, as she knew a lot. 

“I’m book smart in this area because I grew up around it,” Sirius had overheard her tell Slughorn. “The subtle science it lost on me. I’m a bunch of facts and figures.”

Sirius had never caught her socializing with Snape outside of Potions. Sirius had managed to curse Snape several times and if she’d been around, he wouldn’t have tried in case he might have hit her. As it was, Snape only managed to hex him once, and that was on the day after that first potions class. Sirius had suddenly spouted tentacles and rather clammy skin as he walked through the Entrance Hall heading to dinner. He would have been fine with it, except the clammy skin stung and the tentacles leaked some sort of corrosive liquid that caused his skin to actually blister and pop. 

It was gross. So of course, the only person to blame was Snape.

Not that he could prove it. 

“She’s not Dark,” Remus said, sounding tired as he sat down next to Sirius. “She likes your brother. He seems to understand her and her…strangeness.”

“He’s Dark.”

“How do you know? You don’t even speak to him any more,” Remus reminded him. “When was the last time you paid any attention to him?”

Sirius made a noise and glowered.

“If you paid attention you would have noticed he doesn’t really like his fellow housemates and he sits alone, separated from everyone. And the closest people to him are the first years.”

Sirius glanced over at the table. Remus, of course, was right. Besides Atlanta, the closest person to Regulus was clearly a scared first year, who kept darting glances at the upper years fearfully. The upper years, people in Regulus’s class and older, sent scathing looks down at his younger brother. 

“Now that I think about it…I don’t think I’ve ever seen him, well, with anyone,” Sirius admitted. “Like in a friend based manner.”

“Yeah, I’ve only seen the others picking on him,” Peter pipped up. “Even Snivillus bullies him from time to time.”

“What?” Sirius asked, outraged. 

“All the other ones are worst. Snape usually just stands in the background,” Evans butted in with. “McNair and Avery are the worst.”

Sirius glowered. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Uh, mate, you didn’t care. Plus, he’s a Slytherin,” Peter helpfully reminded him. 

Sirius fell into an aggravated silence, watching his brother. The gang of wannabe Death Eaters (or Death Eaters already) kept glancing at Regulus and Atlanta. It was clear they didn’t like the fact Regulus had a friend. Or a protector, as she appeared as a wall between him and the other Slytherins. Why would he need a wall between him and his housemates? They were all the same, weren’t they? 

“Why would they pick on him? He’s one of them,” Sirius pointed out. 

“Is he?” Remus asked as Atlanta and his brother got up. They walked towards the door, Atlanta hooking her arm through Regulus’. The older Slytherins all watched, a few narrowing eyes. After the pair had vanished, the group all put their heads together. Sirius frowned, getting an ominous feeling. 

“Moony—” he turned to his right, where Remus had just been to find the spot empty. “Where did he go? So stealthy? Silent? ”

“Where _did_ he go?” James asked. “He stopped doing that after second year.”

“I bet he went to find Atlanta and Regulus,” Peter offered. “He sometimes studies with them in the library. Or something. I’m not sure. They all read books.”

Sirius pushed himself up and hurried off to the library. After sneaking passed Madam Pince (who had banned him from the library in his fourth year after he knocked over a few book shelves), he went Remus Hunting. It took him ten minutes, but he finally found Atlanta, Regulus and Remus all seated at a long table together in the back of the library. Atlanta and Remus were seated across from one another, while Regulus was seated a few seats away. Remus and Atlanta had their heads bent together over a pile of books. 

“You know, you’d think I’d get this,” she muttered quietly.

“Well, it is rather complicated. It is learning a new language,” Remus offered. “You speak at least three different languages, don’t you?”

“Spanish and Portuguese are almost the same thing. And Italian is very similar to the two,” Atlanta offered.

“So four. You also speak English,” Remus pointed out, crooked smile appearing.

“I speak two-forms of English too. American and British. Wow, I’m totally multi-langaugeal.”

“I don’t think that’s a word,” Remus offered, ever the grammar/language corrector. “I believe it would be multilingual. Or you’d be a polyglot.” 

Regulus snorted. 

“I’m a polyglot. I like that. I sound like a magical animal of some sort,” Atlanta mused.

“I guess in a manner, you are,” Remus joked.

Atlanta chuckled. “Tragic. I’m only good at human language. Runes…bah humbug.”

The pair fell silent. Sirius lurked a few minutes more, watching the pair. His eyes darted between Remus and Atlanta. They had very similar things they did while studying: chewing on bottom lip, sighing randomly, tugging on ear, nibbling on the pinkie finger when something got interesting. 

It was fascinating and disturbing. He watched his brother for a moment, but didn’t notice anything Regulus did he recognized himself doing. 

Thank god. 

After twenty minutes, Sirius burst out of the stacks to put an end to the studying. Flopping down next to Remus he put on his most dashing smile and plunked his head on Remus’ shoulder.

“Whacha doing?” he asked, looking up at Remus under his lashes. 

“Runes.”

“Trying to cram my brain into a tiny tube,” Atlanta offered, sounding rather frustrated. 

Regulus didn’t say anything. 

“This is boring. Let’s go do something fun,” Sirius suggested, snuggling his head a bit further into the crook of Remus’ neck. Partly to distract Remus, partly because it felt good. 

“I find this rather fun, Sirius,” Remus said, sounding like he was a forty-year-old professor. “I enjoy studying. Now hush. I don’t want to be kicked out this early in the evening.”

Sirius sighed, leaving his head on Remus’ shoulder. Remus was rather thin and pointy, yet he had the most comfortable shoulder Sirius had ever set his head down on. Silence fell among the group, the only noise people was shuffling around and other library like noises. 

Sirius glanced down the table to his brother, who was busy frowning and scribbling with his quill. His brother looked somewhat thinner and gaunter than he’d been the last time Sirius had noticed him. His cheek bones stuck out quite a bit and he seemed rather weedy. His hair even lacked the typical Black luster. He glanced over at Atlanta, who was hidden by a sheet of reddish brown shiny hair. It pooled on the table, making the area she was working in a hidden sanctuary. Sirius was about to announce he was bored again when he noticed his brother eyeing Atlanta. It was clear Regulus was attempting to stare at her without seemingly like he was staring. 

Poor sap. He lacked finesse. 

Quirking an eyebrow, Sirius pushed himself up off of Remus. He leaned across the table and brushed Atlanta’s hair off the book she was reading. 

Her hair felt like silk as it moved over his fingers. 

“How can you read through your hair?” he asked.

“I’m talented. I have x-ray vision,” she deadpanned.

“Huh?” Sirius asked as Regulus properly conveyed his confusion with, “Excuse me?”  

Remus and Atlanta snickered together. 

Atlanta sat up, flopped her hair back over her shoulders and rolled her eyes. “Sirius Black, are you bored?”

“Yes.”

“Well, come along, Grey-Eyed Dog.”

Sirius chanced a glance at Regulus, who frowned deeply, but said nothing. Atlanta shoved the book she had been reading at Remus, telling him to take detailed notes and she’d figure it out later. She put her things away and threw her bag over her shoulder. She walked behind Regulus and messed up his hair, whispering something in his ear. Regulus kept his face smooth, but there was a glint in his eye as he watched her round the table.

“Come along, Grey-Eyed Dog. Time’s a wasting.”

Sirius jogged to catch up with her. “You can call me Sirius.”

“Seriously?”

“Yes. I’m very Sirius.”

“You’re a dog,” was her reply. 

“Why, yes I am,” Sirius laughed, knowing she didn’t realize just how right she was. “So, what are your plans for me?”

“Oh, this and that. These and those. No one knows,” she said cryptically. 

“Well, that explains everything,” Sirius commented.

“Forty-two,” she announced, turning a corner. 

“What?”

She smiled and continued walking. Atlanta started up a staircase and continued climbing till she reached the top of it. She threw open a door and showed him into a classroom that looked it hadn’t been used since the founding of Hogwarts. 

“Interesting make out spot,” Sirius joked.

Atlanta snorted. “I’m not making out with you. Ever. Gross.”

“Why, because you’ve got it bad for my brother?”

Atlanta said nothing, but flicked her wand at the wall. Suddenly, the wall moved aside to reveal a pranksters dream. 

“Wow,” Sirius breathed, rushing forward. There were shelves of wet start fireworks, dungbombs and other random things he’d never seen before in the joke shops he frequented. “How did you find this?”

“I was poking around one night and found the false wall and that was all just there.”

She came to stand next to him. She threw an arm over his shoulder, which didn’t make him feel what he expected in the least. Instead of feeling giddy at being close to her, he just felt comfortable. At ease. At least he felt something. Usually when girls made moves towards him, he felt next to nothing. It was rather confusing. He kept waiting for something. He wasn’t sure what. He liked girls, he really did. They were squishy and sometimes smelled nice. 

He’d expected to feel _something_ with Atlanta due to his mild obsession. Fixation. No, interest was a better word. 

“Who else but the current prankster in chief would enjoy this wide array of tricks?” she asked. 

She squeezed his shoulder. 

“Now, I’m giving this special room to you on one condition.” She dropped her arm and rounded on him, pointing a finger at him. “You must not use any of these things in a malicious manner. If you do, you will rue the day you got on my wrong side, got it Grey-Eyed Dog?”

“Sirius.”

“Fine. You got it, Sirius?”

“Yes.”

“I want you to swear.”

“What?”

“Swear you will only use these things for laughs, fun and not to cause harm or mortification to anyone other than one of the Marauders or myself.”

“Hey, how do you know our group’s name?”

“I’m special, Sirius,” she replied. “Now, promise. Swear.”

Sirius stuck his hand up and said, “I, Sirius Orion Black, swear that I will never use any of the products located in this room to cause harm or mortification to any one other than one of my good friends: James Potter, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew. Oh, and Atlanta Black.”

Atlanta nodded, dropping her hand. 

“All right. Remember, pranks and being a bully are two very different things. Blowing something up in someone’s face is different than turning their hair pink.”

“Got it.”

She gave him a sharp look that reminded him of McGonagall. He smiled at her again and she rolled her eyes. 

“Charm can only get you so far in life, Sirius,” she informed him, walking passed him and heading for the door. 

“Oh, I don’t know about that, Lanta,” he offered, throwing her his most charming smile. When she didn’t react unfavorably to his use of the shorted name, he went on, “I’m rather brilliant at what I do.”

Atlanta draped herself in the doorway. “You know, they tell me you’re a ladies man, but I have a hard time seeing it.”

“What do you mean?” Sirius asked, running a hand through his hair. He gave her a lopsided smile. “I love birds.”

“Yeah, but you also enjoy using Remus as a pillow a little too much,” she commented, pushing herself off the frame and sweeping out of the room, leaving a rather confused Sirius Black behind. 


End file.
